Havelock's new mayor, commissioners get down to business

Will Lewis takes the oath of office as Havelock’s new mayor from Havelock City Clerk Cindy Morgan on Monday night. Assisting were Lewis’s wife Reine and their daughters Marina and Penelope.

Drew C. Wilson/Havelock News

By Drew C. Wilson/Havelock News

Published: Thursday, December 12, 2013 at 06:53 PM.

Havelock’s new mayor and a new commissioner got down to business quickly during Havelock’s Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday night.

Will Lewis took the oath of office as mayor, while Brenda Wilson also took her oath as a new commissioner. Jim Stuart, who was re-elected to a third term on the board, also took his oath, joining Danny Walsh, Karen Lewis and George Liner on the board. Walsh was selected as mayor pro tem.

With the new board assembled, it didn’t take long for the group to start spending the city’s money, albeit money that the city had expected to have to spend.

First, the board unanimously approved a $97,580 contract with Bio-Nomic Services to remove an estimated 1.4 million gallons of biosolids from the sewer treatment plant. Biosolids are a byproduct of the treatment process. The company will charge $0.0647 per gallon for the removal.

Secondly, the board unanimously approved a new contract with the Franklin Partnership lobbying firm in Washington. The new contract will cost the city $5,264 per month, or $63,168 per year. That price is $6,768 more than the current contract.

In other business, the board:

-- reappointed Elizabeth Smith to a seat on the Havelock-Craven County Public Library Board.

Havelock’s new mayor and a new commissioner got down to business quickly during Havelock’s Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday night.

Will Lewis took the oath of office as mayor, while Brenda Wilson also took her oath as a new commissioner. Jim Stuart, who was re-elected to a third term on the board, also took his oath, joining Danny Walsh, Karen Lewis and George Liner on the board. Walsh was selected as mayor pro tem.

With the new board assembled, it didn’t take long for the group to start spending the city’s money, albeit money that the city had expected to have to spend.

First, the board unanimously approved a $97,580 contract with Bio-Nomic Services to remove an estimated 1.4 million gallons of biosolids from the sewer treatment plant. Biosolids are a byproduct of the treatment process. The company will charge $0.0647 per gallon for the removal.

Secondly, the board unanimously approved a new contract with the Franklin Partnership lobbying firm in Washington. The new contract will cost the city $5,264 per month, or $63,168 per year. That price is $6,768 more than the current contract.

In other business, the board:

-- reappointed Elizabeth Smith to a seat on the Havelock-Craven County Public Library Board.

-- appointed Wilson to a seat on the Eastern Carolina Aviation Heritage Foundation board.

-- heard from city manager Frank Bottorff that the 47-acre Lewis Farm Tract, proposed site of a recreation area off the city’s west end, would be transferred over to the city from the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust this week.

nagreed to donate $300 from the commissioners’ discretionary fund to the Wounded Warrior Christmas Leave Fundraiser at the Riverfront Convention Center in New Bern.

In a side note, when Commissioner Jim Stuart took his oath of office Monday night, he placed his right hand on the Bible and raised his left, which is backwards from custom.

“As soon as I sat back down George (Liner) pointed it out to me,” Stuart said Tuesday morning. “Last night before I went to bed I said I got to get it done right.”

“I spent all night last night as Citizen Jim Stuart, so I had to go up there this morning and get that rectified,” Stuart said. “I want it done right. I know it shows how silly I can be. I can’t do four more years not knowing I was sworn in properly.”